USA > Iowa > Taylor County > History of Taylor County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc. : a biographical directory of many of its leading citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, history of Iowa and the Northwest, map of Taylor County, Constitution of the United States, reminiscences, miscellaneous matters, etc > Part 51
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Then, the dangers encountered in traveling on horseback or afoot, over the almost patlıless prairies, in the storms and snows of winter, or fording the bridgeless streams, sometimes bound in fetters of ice, sometimes swollen into torrents by the recent rains, were simply appalling, and cannot now be understood or appreciated by those who reach their appointments by the railway coach or the easy carriage.
Well may we exclaim " What hath God wrought."
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HISTORY OF TAYLOR COUNTY.
AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS.
Agriculture is the most healthful, the most needful, and the most inde- pendent pursuit in which man can be employed. Among the first com- mands of his Creator were, that he should go forth " to till the ground, from whence he was taken," and adding, that "in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." It is the basis upon which all other pursuits in life are founded and obtain their support. It is the great industry from which the wealth of nations is directly and indirectly derived.
It may not be uninteresting to note, by way of comparison, the wonder- ful advancements which the agricultural industries of this country have made from their primitive beginning to the present time.
Agriculture is a conquest over nature, through the efforts of experiment and toil; and its triumphs have won for it the grand position it occupies to- day. It has attractions which have drawn some of the greatest men of the world to its pursuit. That Roman patrican, Cincinnatus, left his plow at the call of his country to assume the dictatorship of Rome, and when he had relieved it of its foes, he returned to his farm. So, too, when Washing- ton withdrew from the councils of his country, he retired to his broad acres at Mount Vernon where he spent the balance of his days in the enjoy- ment of his chosen calling. Marshfield had ever for Webster, the great and ambitious statesman, greater charms for him than the national senate cham- ber, because it was the delight of his life when not in the service of his country. What could more strongly and touchingly evidence this fact than his dying request that his cattle be driven, one by one, past the window of the room in which his last hours were ebbing away? The highest pursuit of nobility in the old monarchial countries of the world is agriculture. It is the mother of industries, which Sully, the famous minister of Henry IV; of France, verified, when he said that agriculture-including tillage and pasturage-is " the two breasts of the State." His is a striking utterance, and true. It is the industry that sustains life. A thorough review of ag- ricultural pursuits in their various branches, from the day when our first parents were driven from the Garden of Eden, and condemned to toil-to till the ground and earn their bread by the sweat of their brows-to the pres- ent time, would be a grand exhibit of progress.
Space forbids other than a brief glance at the accomplishments of the agricultural interests of our own country from the period of its occupancy by the red man to the present time. The early colonists of this continent, who came to Virginia and New England, found the Indian, who, though
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not an agriculturist because he thought it beneath his dignity to cultivate the soil, yet did it as a matter of necessity to secure a living, though mainly through the labor of women and children. A careful regard and at- tention was given to the crop. To show the way in which the Indian pre- pared the ground for his crops in those densely covered forest regions of the continent, we quote from Capt. John Smith, who visited Virginia in 1609, and wrote of the Indians thus. "The greatest labor they take is in plant- ing their corn, for the country is naturally overgrown with wood. To pre- pare the ground, they bruise the bark of trees near the roots; then do they scorch the roots with fire, that they grow no more." In the timbered re- gions of the East the process of "girdling trees" by cutting through the sappy portion, thus destroying the life and producing the decay of the fo- liage and branches, that the sun and moisture may be admitted and thus give he crop its growing and ripening elements, is practiced. The mode and imple- ments of cultivation of the soil during the aboriginal period of this country were rude-as rude as the red man's civilization was, in its deterioration from that of which he was a barbarized relic. Evidence that the Indian of this country is the relic of a civilization long anterior to his discovery there is apparent in the single fact that his knowledge of the means of fertiliza- tion is traditional with him, and by him first imparted to the early colonist of this continent. Their means of fertilization was the burning of dead branches and wood every spring, and spreading the ashes over their corn ground to enrich it. Fish shells were also used as a fertilizer. The soil . would then be tilled, or scratched over with the flat shoulder-blade of the moose, or with crooked prongs of wood. Then the corn was planted with the rudest kind of wooden hoes, or with those made with clam-shells, in rows some four feet apart. In each hill was placed, as an additional fertil- izer, a crab, gathered from the seashore, or an ale- wife, found in the adja- cent stream. When the patch was thus planted, a hut was constructed in the middle of it, where some of the tribe lived to protect it from the birds and other enemies. When the corn came forth the soil about it was stirred with their primitive hoes until it had grown two feet high. It was gath- ered before fully ripe, and the seed for the next year was selected from those stalks having the largest number of ears, which they hung up in their wigwams. Aside from the seed-ears the crop was cured in the sun, or over fires, while in the husks. Then it was husked, shelled and placed in birch- bark boxes, and buried in holes in the earth, which were also lined with birch-bark for protection. These excavated garners were generally con- cealed by the women from their lazy lords lest they should make way with it. History tells us that the early colonists once discovered one of these
Geo Van Houten
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garners when they were so near starvation that they only had five kernels of corn to each person. When the corn was thus dried it was cracked in a stone mortar and boiled ready for food. The Indians also planted pump- kins among their corn.
Such is a glimpse of the agricultural life of the red man. But it has passed away.
" Alas for them! their day is o'er; Their fires are out from hill to shore. No more for them the red deer bounds; The plow is in their hunting-grounds; The pale man's ax rings through their woods,
The pale man's sail skims o'er their floods- Their pleasant springs are dry."
Agriculture in the colonial days of our country was but a step in advance of that of the aboriginal period before them, though its improvements were rapid. The pilgrims were an agricultural people, and Bancroft says that one of the reasons which brought them from Holland to America was be- cause they "had been bred to agricultural pursuits, which they were unable to follow in that country of their temporary stay." The great difficulty in cultivation of the soil in colonial days was its preparation-the clearing away of its dense forests. Their fields were necessarily few and small. They lacked the implements of husbandry, too. What a contrast between the farming implements used prior to the revolution and those in use to-day.
The system of agriculture best adapted to this new land of the colonists had to be learned by experiment. The cultivation of corn, potatoes, beans, pumpkins, squashes and tobacco were the extent of the agricultural pro- ducts of the country in aboriginal days, and from the Indian the colonists obtained their first lessons in this field of industry, which has become so great and grand to-day. Added to these aboriginal teachings the ideas and observations which these people brought from their mother country, they were able to make great advancement in the pursuit, which is to-day re- duced to a science.
Domestic animals, fruits and seeds, were brought hither, and by experi- ments and many losses, the soil and climate of the new continent were tested as to the products to which they were best adapted. Domestic ani- mals, cereals and fruits, which were indigenous to, and thrived in Britain, might fail and perish in the new, untried and far distant land, and in fact did, to no slight extent. In the New England colonies, as early as 1636, cows brought the exorbitant price of thirty pounds sterling each; and yet a quart of milk would sell for a penny only. And so, too, a dozen eggs
10
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would bring three pennies. Horses, cattle, sheep and swine of that period were insignificant, compared with those of the present day, not only in the American colonies, but in England as well. They were small, ungainly in form, and inferior in every way. To trace the experiments and improve- ments in domestic animals in this country, their successes and failures, would be interesting to agriculturists, but space here forbids. The chief reason for the great improvement in the size and perfection of domestic an- imals in England and this country during the present century, is the nu- tritious grasses which are now so extensively cultivated as food for them. The red clover was not introduced into England until 1633, nor the white clover until 1700. After the introduction and use of these valuable grasses there was a marked improvement in the growth and quality of cattle, as we learn from the best authority. During the early part of the last century the average gross weight of the neat cattle brought to a leading English market for sale was not over three hundred and seventy pounds, and that of sheep, twenty-eight pounds. The average weight of the former is now over eight hundred pounds, and of the latter over eighty pounds. This illustrates the effects of the cultivation of those nutritious grasses and seeds for food, and what experiment and care will accomplish-facts which no farmer and stock-raiser should not closely observe and practice. Even the natural grasses, which originated in this country, or, at least, were intro- duced here long before they were in England, have been greatly improved through experiment and knowledge of the soil best adapted to their growth and the manner of their cultivation. The rigors of the New England cli- mate compelled the growing of a hardier pasturage than the various clover grasses produced. But the tests of a long period have proved that all the natural grasses, and the various varieties of clover, thrive luxuriantly in the various sections of this country for pasturage and hay; and, too, the latter varieties have also served as fertilizers, more especially, however, in those regions where winter wheat is generally grown when the clover sod, after being pastured down in the early season, is plowed under in June, and left to decay until September, when it is harrowed and cross-plowed, and found in a rich and mellow condition for seed.
In the early days of the agricultural interest of this county, in all its branches, the main problems to be solved were those of adaptation, acclima- tion and naturalization. Prior to the Revolution, says Prof. Brewer, of Yale College, many species of grasses, plants and vegetables were tested from the New England colonies to the Rio Grande. Many failed in the former sec- tion, but flourished "in other localities." Plants from Europe, and many from Asia and the East Indies, were thus tested, including various com-
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HISTORY OF TAYLOR COUNTY.
mercial species such as indigo, cinnamon, etc. Some flourished with their vegetable character unchanged, while some others, in favorable localities as to climate and soil, developed new and superior characteristics. During the century and a half preceding the Revolution, the experiments and trials which were then made solved the problems of adaptation and acclimation so thoroughly that but slight changes have been made in the domestic ani- mal species, and but one of any importance in the land species, that of sor- ghum or Chinese cane. This was an acquisition to the plant species of this country which has become valuable to the producing classes, and its prod- uct-sirup mainly-is to-day a standard commodity in many of the States. The Chinese cane plant was first introduced into the United States in 1856 by the agricultural department at Washington; and from that date, and from the seed distributed from that source, has grown the immense pro- duction of this country to-day. Its cultivation became extensive, as it was hardy and would thrive in almost every part of the country; and now it is one of the staple plants of the United States, especially in the more north- ern ones, as Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and others. In the States above named the census of 1860 shows the production of that year to have been 6,749,123 gallons of molasses or sirup. Of this total Iowa contributed the largest production -1,211,512 gallons. Indiana being next contributed only 881,049 gallons. While this important agricultural prod- uct has been developed to a large extent in most of the States where the Chinese cane is grown, yet it is far from having reached the degree in the manufacture of the cane juice insuperior grades of sirup and sugar to which experiments have shown it can be brought. It can be accomplished and the time is not distant when the growing of Chinese cane in this country will be one of the most profitable branches of agricultural industry. It is estimated that we now raise annually over twelve million gallons of sirup; which at sixty cents per gallon would realize $7,200,000; and that the pres- ent annual production of sugar from this cane is over 500,000 pounds; which, at five cents per pound would also realize the sum of $25,000, thus aggregating the enormous sum of $7,225,000. Thus it will be seen that the production of the sorghum or Chinese cane plant is of vast importance as an agricultural industry in this country; not only for home or domestic uses, but as a commodity of commerce in which there is a remunerative profit to the producer.
A picture of the agricultural interests of New England, during the pe- riod of which we have spoken, prior to the Revolution, would be an interest- ing contrast with that throughout the country of to-day. As an illustration of this period we will refer to a single colony-that of Massachusetts Bay-
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HISTORY OF TAYLOR COUNTY.
which was settled soon after that of Plymouth, with the sturdy and God- fearing Puritans. The historian of that eventful period tells us that the colonial authorities controlled the material interests of those settlements, and that no person was permitted to establish himself within the colonial jurisdiction without authority. Squatter sovereignty was not recognized- not known in those days; but every member of the colony was allotted a farm in extent to the wealth he possessed. These farms were so laid out and designated that no residence was over half a mile distant from the meeting·house. An extensive pasture, a neat meadow, a salt marsh and fishing grounds were held in common. With plans and purposes based upon a system of action so bold and determined in the career of these prim- itive colonists in the creation of their new homes, and in the establishment and maintenance of their religious faith, with agriculture as their only in- dustry, it could hardly be otherwise than that agricultural communities and interest would rapidly spring up and thrive. Like the fabled warriors of Cadmus, they were armed with weapons, not for their own destruction but for the defense of their liberties, their homes and their religion. In the log cabin of the primitive era were cultivated religious thought, domestic virtues, sturdy habits of frugality and industry, the daring spirit, and the devoted love of liberty which have so grandly advanced the prosperity, the power and the glory of the American continent. These virtues were the acorns of civilization planted by our fathers, which have grown into stately oaks, under which millions of descendants now find peace, prosperity and repose.
During the early periods of this country's history very little was known of scientific farming, and much less of it practiced. The soil was fresh- unexhausted from much tillage, hence there was no thought of restoring to it its lost forces. Its unoccupied scope was so vast and its cost so trifling that the farmer need only cultivate new fields to secure all that fertilization would accomplish. There was no spirit of inquiry into this great industry prior to the Revolution-neither science nor poetry gave a charm to the hus- bandman, nor did he scarcely go beyond his narrow boundaries-hardly knew the world outside the sphere of his own life. The religious meetings, the elections, house "raisings," and "huskings," where pumpkin pies and cider comprised the feasts, were the principal social pastimes at which these early day farmers mingled, and at which the younger generation found their merriment. The husking is a traditional gathering, both industrial and social in its character, extending back to the aborginal period of the country, and down even to the present day, in some parts; and which Long- fellow immortalized in his song of Hiawatha.
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HISTORY OF TAYLOR COUNTY.
The corn-field having grown and ripened,
"Till it stood in all the splendor, Of its garments green and yellow, . Of its tassels and its plumage, And the maze-ears full and shining, Gleamed from bursting sheaths of verdure; Then Nokomis, the old woman,"
Spake to Minnehaha, the merry laughing water:
"And they called the women round them, Called the young men and the maidens, To the harvest of the corn-fields, To the husking of the maize-ear.
On the border of the forest, Underneath the fragrant pine-trees, Sat the old men and the warriors, Smoking in the pleasant shadow. In uninterrupted silence Looked they at the gamesome labor, Of the young men and the women; Listened to their noisy talking,
To their laughter and their singing,
Heard them chattering like the magpies,
Heard them laughing like the bluejays, Heard them singing like the robins. And, whene'er some lucky maiden
Found a red ear in the husking, Found a maize-ear red as blood is,
'Nershka!' cried they all together,
'Nershka!' you shall have a sweetheart, You shall have a handsome husband!'
'Ugh!' the old men all responded
From their seats beneath the pine trees."
If, perchance, superior intelligence manifested itself in the agricultural pursuits of that early period, and attempted any innovation upon the old ideas through experiments, it found no encouragement, but was rather ridiculed as folly. The history of those times tells us that one who would presume to leave the old beaten ruts of his ancestors, and "did not plant just as many acres of corn as his fathers did, and that, too, in the 'old of the moon'; if he did not sow just as much rye to the acre, use the same number of oxen to plow, and get in his crops in the same day; or if he did not hoe as many times as his father and his grandfather did; if, in fine, he did not wear the same kind of homespun dress, and adopt the same religious views and predjudices, he was shunned in company by the old and young, and looked upon as a visionary." As before remarked, the fertilization of
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HISTORY OF TAYLOR COUNTY.
the soil was unknown. It is related that the tillers of the soil knew so little about the value of manure that they would sometimes move their barns and sheds to get them out of the way of the vast heaps of this valuable fertil- izer, not believing that the cost of removing it upon their fields would return to them again. Neither was the rotation of crops known to aug- ment their production. Says a writer: "Cattle were rarely housed dur- ing night or winter. It was thought necessary to leave them out of doors, and expose them to the summer's sun and dew, and to a winter's storm, in order to 'toughen' them. It was a common opinion in some of the colonies that housing and milking cows in the winter would kill them."
The American Revolution produced a great change in the agricultural interests of this country. None can fail to see the vast improvements which have since been made in its agricultural industries. For a century and a half prior to the Revolution, these industries remained quite station- ary. The implements of the husbandman were few and imperfect, were never improved. The hoe, plow, spade, fork, and occasionally a harrow, generally covered the implement inventory of the farmer, and with this slender outfit he toiled for his bread for many long and tedious years. The changes which the Revolution produced were not so much in the way of awakening a greater interest in the cultivation of the soil as in enlarging the freedom of exchange of commodities. The entire agricultural interests were well-nigh paralyzed during the Revolution, which, of course, did not speedily recover. The colonies had always been preyed upon by the mother country, without any return to them. The war ended, the colonies became States of an independent nation, and their people were at liberty to buy and sell where they pleased. This stimulated them to a greater advancement in American agriculture, and from this period a notable degree of progress was made. The declaration of peace was one of the causes, and the foreign demand for the agricultural productions of this country, caused by destruc- tive influences which the wars of the countries of Europe had upon their agricultural interests, was another cause of this demand; besides the densely populated countries of Europe were mainly engaged in the manufacturing industries, and were compelled to look to countries where agricultural pro- ducts were their chief commerce. Since our American republic assumed its place among the nations of the earth, its supply of the demands of for- eign countries with the products of the soil has increased, until to-day it has become enormous, probably second to that of no other country; not only in the products of the soil, but in its export of live stock as well. Another great aid in this grand development of the agricultural interests of this country, is the wonderful improvement in the character of farming
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implements and machinery. Through the genius of invention and the great interest given this vast American industry, the labor of the husband- man is a pleasure rather than a wearisome drudgery. Mark the contrast between the farming implements used by the Puritans prior to the estab- ment of the Union, mentioned farther back in this chapter, and even those used by their descendants down to about the middle of the present century. What an improvement over the plow of primitive times is that in use now; the one mnade from the crotch of a tree, one branch forming the beam, and the other the share; that of to-day made of iron and steel, of single and double shares, the latter attached to wheels, and riding gearing, and pro- pelled by steam, which will turn over ten acres of soil sooner and better than the rude ones of earlier times would one acre. And thus it is with harvesting machine, mower, and the thresher, as compared with old-fash- ioned cradle, scythe and flail. The cultivator takes the place of the harrow, the corn-planter the place of the hoe and bag of corn tied about the waist, and the horse hoe in place of the hand implement. And thus it is all through, the implements and machinery which experience and genius have invented for the agricultural industry of this country have enlarged its scope many fold, and given it a stimulus which has enabled the nation to gain the mastery in the balance of trade through her exports, over, not only her mother country, but also over those that were aged and powerful when ours was in her infancy, and weak. But America had the God-given re- sources, and the spirit of enterprise and progress implanted within her peo- ple, to push and school them for the accomplishment of the wonderful de- velopment of them, which have been made through her various industries, of which agriculture was, and is, the grand basis.
Among other influences that have aided in the development of the agri- cultural interests of this country are, first, the inducements which the lib- eral legislation of the general government afforded from time to time, in its enactments, to encourage the occupation of the great West. However, before the general government lent its aid by its legislative inducements to draw an agricultural emigration westward, the new Western States, and the railroad companies organized therein, made earnest efforts to draw a farm- ing population hither from the over-crowded East and from Europe, through their cooperation in emigrant agencies, and low rates of transportation. Whatever may be said of the railroads of the West, as to their over exactions in the transportation of her products, there is one important benefit to which they, more than any other means, have contributed as developers of the vast agricultural interests of the country, which gives it its great prominence among the nations of the world, in this relation. What would have been
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